With a busy shopping season quickly approaching, now is a good time to start reminding students why they should check out the campus bookstore for gift giving ideas. From preparing for finals to traveling over the holiday, there’s a lot on students’ minds. The college store can offer an easy shopping solution. Today, we’re going to look at reasons students should shop in your store and ways to inspire shoppers this year.
This year with nationwide supply chain concerns, there are a few excellent reasons why the campus community should support the college store.
- Uncertain stock and shipping delays
One concern this holiday season may center around supply chain disruption and shipping delays. According to a report by CNBC, online out-of-stock messages are expected to increase 172% this holiday season. This coupled with strained service levels for delivery providers may inspire many shoppers to buy locally.
Now is a good time to start marketing the products and merchandise you have in your store that shoppers can immediately take home with them. Consider creating a holiday gift-giving guide to help show students what various family members might like from the bookstore and hopefully spark a new wave of holiday shoppers. - Supporting a local business
A fantastic reason to shop in the college store is that it supports a local business. Students might not automatically connect the idea that shopping at the college store is supporting their community. However, your store can offer students the best of both worlds.
Shopping with you does support their local campus community and you can provide the convenient in-store and online shopping experiences they are looking for — along with a variety of order distribution options. - Convenience can win the day
When marketing your holiday merchandise or sales this year, make sure shoppers know what distribution options are available to them this holiday season: in-store pickup, delivery, shipping, curbside, etc. By giving shoppers multiple ways they can get the products they want, your store can serve a wider market of shoppers.
Also, it isn’t too soon to start talking about holiday shopping. The Washington Post reports that more than half of shoppers plan to start holiday shopping before Thanksgiving this year.
What does your store have planned to increase sales and foot traffic through the holiday season?
